68 FEDERAL INDIA
wealth as a Dominion. These have to do with
its relation to the British Crown and its con-
stitution as a parliamentary form of govern-
ment. We are only concerned with those
details of the Australian Constitution which
impart to it a federal character.
Australia is essentially a union of states
which were individually autonomous before
the Commonwealth came into existence. As
the preamble of the Commonwealth of Australia
Act says: * Whereas the people of New South
Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland
and Tasmania . . . have agreed to unite in
one indissoluble federal Commonwealth . . .
be it therefore enacted.' The preamble gives
the clue to the Constitution. The existence of
the states as autonomous bodies is assumed,
and their union, it is expressly stated, is to be
on a federal basis. The unmistakable inten-
tion was that the states should continue to
enjoy a large measure of internal independence,
and that they should not derive their powers
from the Federal Government. This, in fact,
is the principle which underlies the whole Act.
A federal executive, a federal legislature, and
a federal court are constituted by the Act, but
their powers are defined.